The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 465
Ohio

JOHN E. WRIGHT was born at Wheeling, December 19,
1862, his father, the late John Wright, having been one of
the twenty-three men who in 1852 organized the LaBelle
Iron Works, long one of the leading industrial concerns of
the Wheeling District, he having been a practical man in
the business and having had charge of motive power, as
superintendent, from the time of the erecting and equipping
of the original plant. He retired from active service in
1876, but retained his financial interests in the business
until his death in 1907, at the venerable age of eighty-five
years. John Wright was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and came to Wheeling in 1852, at the time of the organiza-
tion of the LaBelle Iron Works. He was an expert iron
man, he having learned his trade in one of the largest of the
old-time iron mills in Pittsburgh. He was also a director
of the Jefferson Iron Works at Steubenville, Ohio, and was
active in political affairs, first as a whig and later as a
republican, though he had no ambition for public office.
His wife, whose maiden name was Eleanor Madden, was
born at Cincinnati, Ohio, and their companionship of more
than fifty years was severed by her death in 1903. They
became the parents of seven children: Anna Virginia,
widow of F. J. Hugens, resides at Wheeling; Miss Eliza-
beth died in 1921; Eleanor G. is the wife of C. A. Robinson.
of Wheeling; William F. died at the age of twenty-three
years; John E., of this review, was the next in order of
birth; Margaret is the wife of C. L. Taylor, of Los Angeles,
California; and Carie M. is the wife of Thomas Stewart, of
Wheeling.

John E. Wright gained his early education in the public
schools and as a youth he became a skilled operator of a
nail machine in the plant of the LaBelle Iron Works. Later
he was made paymaster in the office of the concern, and he
continued his advancement through various grades until
ho became president of the company in 1898. He thus con-
tinued until 1903, when he sold his interest in the business.
In the following year he engaged in independent business
as a broker and contractor, devoting five years to the iron
and steel brokerage business and to contracting in public
work. While president of the LaBelle Iron Works he pur-
chased the Jefferson Iron Works at Steubenville, Ohio, re-
built the plant and made the business a success, the same
being still a subsidiary of the LaBelle Iron Works.

Mr. Wright wedded Miss Bessie Baron, daughter of
Abraham Baron, and her death occurred nineteen years
later, in 1914. She is survived by two children: Mary
Eleanor is the wife of David W. Sloan, of Baltimore, Mary-
land; and John E., Jr., is superintendent of a plant at Elm
Grove, a suburb of Wheeling.

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.
Chicago and New York, Volume II
pg.66 & 67

WILLIAM S. STENGER. One of the, most successful concerns in West Virginia
handling motor trucks and equipment is the Stenger Motor Company of Wheeling, a
business founded and built up with steadily increasing prosperity by William S.
Stenger, a young business man of great energy who has had the faculty of doing
well anything he undertook. He is a member of a very well known family in the
Wheeling District.

He was born in Ohio County, West Virginia, May 20 1885. His grandfather, John
Stenger, was born in 1837 in Pennsylvania and soon after the Civil war moved to
the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and spent the rest of his life as a
farmer in Ohio and Brooke counties. He died at Beech Bottom in Brooke County in
1897. His son, John J. Stenger, was born in Belmont County, Ohio, in February
1862, spent his early life there, married in Wheeling, and for twenty-five years
was employed in the sheet department of iron and steel rolling mills. Since 1907
he has been busied with his farm at Short Creek, West Virginia. He has grown a
large acreage in wheat and also has a peach orchard of twenty acres. John J.
Stenger is a Catholic, a democrat, and member of Carroll Council No. 504,
Knights of Columbus, Wheeling. He married Jane Myles, who was born at Wheeling
in August, 1862. Of their children the oldest is Catherine, wife of Bernard
Baker, a stationary engineer living at Warwood, Wheeling. The second in age is
William S. John J., Jr., is associated with the Stenger Motor company. Vincent
J. went overseas with the One Hundred and Eighteenth Engineers and died in
England in 1918, the age of twenty-eight. Herbert M. and Earl are with their
father on the farm. Raymond E. is a student in St. Charles College at Baltimore.

William S. Stenger acquired his early education in the public schools of
Wheeling, graduated from the Cathedral High School in 1904, and during the next
five years be managed his father’s retail dairy in Wheeling. From 1909 to 1916
he farmed on his own account in Ohio County, and in the latter year he opened at
Wheeling a business known as the Sandow Motor Sales Company. In the summer of
1921 changed the name to the Stenger Motor Company, of which he is sole
properietor. His garage, salesrooms and offices are at the corner of Eleventh
and Water streets. The Stenger Motor Company is the local distributing agency
for the Gramm-Bernstein Motor Trucks, Pilot cars, sells tires and standard parts
for motor trucks, and Mr. Stenger has developed a business that is recognized as
an indispensable service to all truck owners at Wheeling.

Mr. Stenger is a republican, a member of the Catholic Church and Carroll Council
No. 504, Knights of Columbus. His home is at 118 Twenty-first Street in Norwood.
November 24, 1909, at Wheeling, he married Miss Sadie E. Smith, daughter of John
E. and Mary Catherine (Raab) Smith, of Short Creek, where her mother lives. Her
father was a farmer and died at Short Creek. Mrs. Stenger completed her
education in the West Liberty Normal School. To their marriage have been born
six children: Ralph, born in September, 1910; Sarah, January 13, 1912; Gertrude,
in May, 1913; Ruth, in November, 1914; Blanche, in August, 1917; and Angela, in
September, 1919.

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 460
Ohio

WHEELING TRACTION COMPANY. The Wheeling Traction
Company has played an important part in advancing the
civic and material interests of Wheeling and the Ohio
Valley, progressing from the old-time horse ear mode of
transportation to an extensive city and interurban elec-
tric railway system, giving service of inestimable value
to the public.

In 1863 the Citizens Railway Company of Wheeling gave
to Wheeling its first street railway service, consisting of
horse-drawn cars which operated on wooden tracks. The
line extended from South Wheeling to North Wheeling and
from Wheeling to Bridgeport, Ohio. This service was con-
tinued until 1887, when the Wheeling Railway Company
was organized and combined with the Citizens Railway
Company. After this consolidation the lines of the Citizens
Railway in Wheeling were electrified and electric cars were
operated on the old horse-ear tracks.

The first electric cars operated in Wheeling were known
as the Vanderpool type. The motor was in the front
cab and was geared with a sprocket chain running from
the motor to a sprocket wheel on the axle of the car.
These cars could only be operated in one direction and
it was necessary to have turntables or a “Y” at any
point where it was necessary to turn the car. Wheeling
was the third city in the United States to have an electric
street railway system.

The track was constructed with a flat rail similar to
that used on the horse car lines and was laid on a 6 by 6
inch wooden stringer with cross ties every five feet. Power
was conveyed to the ear with two overhead trolley wires,
as no return was used through the rail.

In 1889 the electric railway was extended south into
Benwood. In 1893 the new Back River Bridge was built
and the electric line extended to Bridgeport, Ohio. The
Bellaire, Bridgeport and Martins ferry Street Railway
Company was also organized and built a line during this
year from Bellaire through Bridgeport to Martins Ferry,
Ohio. In 1895 another company was organized and a line
was built from Benwood to Moundsville, West Virginia.
In 1898 an electric line was built from Steubenville, Ohio,
to Brilliant, Ohio, by a number of Wheeling capitalists.
In 1899 the Wheeling Railway Company was re-organized
under the name of the Wheeling Traction Company, and
it took over the interests of the Wheeling Railway Com-
pany, the Bridgeport, Bellaire & Martins Ferry Street
Railway Company, which covered the lines on the Ohio
side of the Ohio River, and the lines between Benwood
and Moundsville. In 1901 the Northern Ohio Valley Rail-
way Company was organized by Wheeling people, which
company was later known as the Pan Handle Traction
Company, and an electric railway line was built between
Wheeling, West Virginia, and Wellsburg, West Virginia.
Two years later this line was extended to Lazearville, West
Virginia. In 1902 the line between Steubenville and Bril-
liant was acquired by the Wheeling Traction Company.

In 1904 a line was built by the Tri-State Railway Com-
pany, later known as the Steubenville, Wellsburg & Weir-
ton Railway Company, from Wellsburg to Steubenville, and
about two years later a line was built from East Steuben-
ville to Weirton, West Virginia. In this same year, or
in 1904, the Wheeling Traction Company extended its lines
from Bridgeport to Barton, Ohio. In 1906 the line was
extended from Martins Ferry, Ohio, to Rayland, Ohio,
and in 1907 the Bellaire line was extended to Shadyside,
Ohio. In 1912 the stock of the Wheeling Traction Com-
pany was taken over by the West Penn Railways Com-
pany of Pittsburgh. In 1917 the West Penn Railways
Company took over the Steubenville, Wellsburg & Weirton
Railway Company, operating between Steubenville and
Wellsburg and Steubenville and Weirton. These last named
lines are now being operated under lease by the Wheeling
Traction Company.

The first power plant was installed in an old skating
rink in South Wheeling, and in later years was moved
to a more substantial building at Forty-second Street,
Wheeling. At the present time power to operate the cars
is largely obtained from the Windsor Power Plant located
at Beech Bottom, West Virginia, about twelve miles north
of Wheeling.

The Wheeling Traction Company has kept up with the
electric railway industries throughout the country, and
today has on its lines double truck steel passenger ears
of the latest design. On the interurban lines large cen-
ter entrance steel type cars are used. There is operated
daily seventy cars on regular schedules; in addition, freight
and express cars are operated daily between Wheeling and
Moundsville and Wheeling and Steubenville-Weirton. The
track and overhead lines have been rebuilt and maintained
in accordance with standard practice of modern railway
construction, and at present the system comprises 101
miles of track.

The company has a corps of about 600 employes, in-
cluding those in the transportation, track and shop de-
partments. The shops and barns of the company are
located on Wheeling Island, McMechen, West Virginia,
Beech Bottom, West Virginia, and at Follansbee, West
Virginia. During the year 1921, 27,000,000 passengers
were carried on the lines of the company.

From the beginning the local stockholders and executives
of the Wheeling Traction Company have been men of rep-
resentative citizenship and financial stability. Through
the untiring efforts of C. P. Billings, vice-president, the
service on the lines has been greatly improved and the
fares charged by the company most equitably adjusted.

From “History of Wheeling , Ohio County, West Virginia and
Representative Citizens,” by Hon. Gibson Lamb Cranmer, 1902.

Typed by Carol Taylor Lanza.

Pages 829-833

WILLIAM WHITE, a prosperous carpenter of Valley Grove, Ohio County,
West Virginia, was born June 13, 1851, is a son of Madison White and
grandson of James White. The latter, who was born in Scotland, of
Scotch-Irish parentage, came to this country in the eighteenth century,
and became an extensive land owner and farmer. He was eighty years old
at the time of his death. Madison White, father of the subject of this
sketch, was born in Ohio County, near Roney’s Point. He resided on a
farm near Bethany, Brooke County, West Virginia, at his death, which
occurred from typhoid fever at the age of thirty-five years. He chose
for his wife Margaret Jane Howard, and to them were born four children,
as follows: William; Mary Jane, widow of George Murphy, residing in
Independence, Washington County, Pennsylvania; James M.; and Martha,
widow of G.F. Wharton, residing in Columbus, Ohio.
William White followed the occupation which his ancestors chose,
that of a farmer, but in later years he has followed the trade of
carpenter. He has always been very successful, and is prominent among
the leading residents of Ohio County. He was married in 1877 to Agnes
Miller, a daughter of George W. Miller, who is a farmer of Washington
County, Ohio. Our subject and his wife have been blessed with six
children, namely: George C., who was born May 18, 1878, and is baggage
master for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, served one year in
the Spanish-American War as a member of Company G, 4th Regiment
Immunes; Charles M., who was born June 22, 1880, is now at work on the
telephone line; Ira M., born January 31, 1883; Laura B., born April 3,
1885, who is clerking in a general store at Valley Grove; William H.,
born April 18, 1890, and died September 1, 1890; and Letha M., born
October 16, 1891, who is living at home.
James M. White, the brother of our subject, was born March 27,
1855, and for the past seventeen years has been conducting a portable
sawmill at Valley Grove. In 1880 he married Maggie Raines, a daughter
of Robert Raines. Five children were born to James M. White and his
wife: Nina, born November 24, 1881, married William P. Collett, a
carpenter residing in Valley Grove, who is at present employed on the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; James G. Blaine, born May 10, 1884; Maggie,
born September 8, 1887; Bertha, born November 22, 1889; and Joseph
Lehrman, born November 28, 1891. James M. White is a Republican.
Religiously, he is a Methodist. He is a member of Lodge No. 966,
I.O.O.F., of West Alexander, Pennsylvania, having passed through the
various chairs and having represented the local lodge at the Grand
Lodge held at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892.
William White, subject of this sketch, is a Republican in politics.
He is a believer in the Methodist faith. Fraternally, he is a member
of Lodge N. 966, I.O.O.F., of West Alexander, having joined that
organization eighteen years ago, and has passed through all the chairs.
He has also belonged to Encampment No. 293, at Claysville,
Pennsylvania, for the past six years.

MRS. MARGARET A. (WHITNAH) VAN METER, a highly respected resident of
West Liberty, Ohio County, West Virginia, was born near Martinsburg,
West Virginia, and is a daughter of John G. Whitnah. The latter was
born near Martinsburg in 1787, and became a soldier in the War of 1812,
after which he engaged in farming until his death, in 1854, at the age
of sixty-seven years. His father, Henry Whitnah, was a soldier of the
Revolution and a pioneer of New Jersey. He also followed farming and
lived to reach the advanced age of ninety-two years, a man who enjoyed
the respect and highest esteem of every one with whom he was
acquainted.
Margaret A. Whitnah was joined in marriage in March, 1845, with
Vincent H. Van Meter, who was born on the old Van Meter homestead in
Ohio County, in 1817. He was the son of Joseph and Margaret Van Meter,
and grandson of Abraham and Elizabeth (Burns) Van Meter. Elizabeth
Burns was born in Scotland, where she belonged to a prominent family of
that name, and came to America at an early day. Abraham Van Meter was
born in Virginia, and fought in the Revolutionary War. Joseph Van
Meter was born in Berkeley County, Virginia, and moved to the farm now
owned by our subject in 1809. Vincent H. Van Meter, who had two
brothers, Joseph and Robert, always lived on the old farm and in the
house built by his father. The house is located on a rise of ground
and commands an excellent view of the surrounding country. He engaged
in agricultural pursuits, and made a specialty of raising fine horses
and sheep. He also bought and sold cattle extensively. He was a man of
estimable character and commanded the respect and admiration of his
fellow men. He died April 24, 1901. Mrs. Van Meter resides on the old
farm and has many intimate friends in her section of the county, in
which she has lived for so many years. A pleasing feature of this old
estate is an excellent orchard, which was planted more than a century
ago, and still bears abundantly, many of the trees being from 18 inches
to two feet in diameter.
Jan Gysbesten Van Meter, who founded the Van Metre (or Van Meter)
family in this country, emigrated to New York in 1663 from Bommel, a
city of Holland. Governor Gooch of Virginia gave a grant of 40,000
acres of land to two of his descendants, Jan (or John) Van Metre and
Abraham Van Metre. Their descendants settled in Ohio County, West
Virginia, and in Kentucky and Ohio. Of those settling in Ohio County,
Joseph Van Metre, a great-uncle of Vincent H., built Fort Van Metre.
John Van Metre, his brother, took up the land where West Liberty now
stands, and left a man in charge by the name of Black, who built the
place known as Black’s Cabin. Abraham Van Metre afterward owned the
land where West Liberty is, and sold two acres to Ohio County for $20.
Joseph Van Metre, father of Vincent H., had five brothers: Abisha,
Josiah, Asahel, Abraham and Isaac, and three sisters: Ruth, Naomi and
Elizabeth. Joseph Van Metre was killed or drowned in the Ohio River,
when on his way to the Ohio side of the river to hunt; his gun was
found in the river forty years later.

From “History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia and
Representative Citizens,” by Hon. Gibson Lamb Cranmer, 1902.

Typed by Laurie Birks Dean.

pp. 582-583
W. W. McCONNELL, who has been a member of the board of education since
January, 1895, is a well-known business man of Wheeling, and is
proprietor of a box factory and of the Pittsburg Coal Yard, with his
office at the corner of Thirty-fifth and McColloch streets. He was born
in Wheeling in 1844, and is a son of Richard McConnell.
Richard McConnell was born at Wellsburg, Virginia (now West
Virginia), and came to Wheeling in 1832. He was a cooperage
manufacturer, established one of the first plants of the kind in
Wheeling, and operated it throughout his business career. He died in
1887, at the age of seventy-three years. He married a Miss Holmes, who
was a native of Virginia, and died before her husband. Eleven children
were born to their union, but three of whom are living, namely: J. W.,
who is in the employ of his brother; Ella, who lives with the subject
hereof; and W. W., whose name appears at the head of these lines.
W. W. McConnell, having had some experience in connection with his
father, established a business for himself in North Wheeling, in 1863,
at the age of eighteen years. After three years he moved to East
Wheeling, and to his present location in 1880. He has developed a large
business, and does contract work, principally in the city, supplying
barrels, casks and boxes for packing. He employs 25 hands, and at times
traveling men, traveling some, also, himself. He has several teams to
do his hauling for the factory and also to deliver coal from the yards.
His present building was erected in 1888, having a floor space of 24 by
175 feet where the office is located, and 73 by 73 feet in the box
factory. He is also a director of the South Side Bank of Wheeling. He
has always been a public-spirited citizen, and has taken a deep interest
in the growth and development of Wheeling, where he has lived all his
life.
Mr. McConnell has been thrice married, his first union being with
Margaret Kinghorn, by whom he had two sons and two daughters, all of
whom died in infancy. He was again married, to Mary E. Dillon, who
died, leaving one daughter, Clara. He then married West Virginia
Dillon, a sister of his second wife and a daughter of B. B. Dillon, an
old resident of Wheeling, and a bricklayer by trade. This union was
blessed by the birth of five children, namely: Ethel; Sarah; John
Wesley; Frank; and Willard. In politics, Mr. McConnell is a Republican,
and in 1895 was elected a member of the board of education.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and was one of the first members of the Zane Street M.
E. church when it was organized in 1866.

From “History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia and
Representative Citizens,” by Hon. Gibson Lamb Cranmer, 1902.

Typed by E. J. Heinemann

p. 705

JOHN YEASTED, who is practically retired from business activities and
resides at Elm Grove, was elected on the People’s ticket in January,
1900, a member of the town council and was chairman of the committees
on streets and alleys, and petitions. He was born in Germany,
September 19, 1851, and is a son of Peter Yeasted.
Peter Yeasted was born in Germany, and came to this country in
1853, and followed the occupation of farmer. Careful and saving in
habits, he finally purchased a farm which he owned until the day of his
death, at seventy-two years. He was united in marriage with Elizabeth
Schonedice. Besides John, they had another son, Adam.
John Yeasted was two years of age, when in 1853 he was brought to
this country by his parents. His early mental training was obtained in
the common schools, and at the age of seventeen years he began working
out by the day, which he continued until his marriage, in 1873. He
then worked the old home farm, and after his father’s death purchased
the outstanding interests of the heirs. He now owns the old place and
resided upon it until 1898, when he purchased land in Elm Grove, and
built a handsome 10-room residence. His home is modern in all its
details, and is equipped with all modern conveniences. He has also
built other houses in Elm Grove, which he rents. He is a man of high
standing in his home town, and enjoys the esteem and respect of all.
April 17, 1873, Mr. Yeasted was joined in matrimony with Lourena
Jane Betzer, who was born January 5, 1853, and is a daughter of Andrew
and Eliza (Edwards) Betzer. Her father was born in Germany, and early
in life came to this country and became a successful farmer. Her
mother was of English descent; both are deceased. Fraternally Mr.
Yeasted is a member of Mystic Lodge, No. 24, K. of P., having joined it
in 1884. Religiously he and his wife are members of the Stone
Presbyterian church.

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.
Chicago and New York, Volume II
pg.66

HENRY J. HARTMANN. In capital invested and volume of business ice manufacture
now stands eighth among the industries of the United States. The oldest and
largest ice industry of Wheeling is the Wheeling lee and Storage Company. The
efficient manager of this business is Henry J. Hartmann, a native of Wheeling
and with a long and successful experience in local business affairs.

Mr. Hartmann was born in Wheeling, June 12, 1869. His father, William Hartmann,
was born in Waldeck, Germany, in 1843, was reared and educated in his native
country, and on coming to the United States in the Spring of 1868 settled at
Wheeling. For a period of forty-six years he was a warehouseman with the old
Hobbs-Brockunier Glass Company, after which he retired. He died at Wheeling,
October 2, 1915. He was a democrat in earlier years, but became a republican at
the McKinley campaign of 1896. He was always one of the faithful members and
attendants of the Lutheran Church. Soon after coming to Wheeling he married
Miss Elizabeth Bremer. She was also born in Waldeck Germany, in 1847 and had
come to the United States in the spring of 1868 in company with friends. Henry
J. Hartmann is the oldest of his parents’ children. Charles is a broker at
Wheeling and Fred W. is a salesman for the wholesale candy firm of Ellison
Heifer Company, with home at Martins Ferry, Ohio.

Henry J. Hartmann was educated in the public schools of Wheeling and attended
Frasher’s Business College. He left school in 1885, and his first regular work
was six months employment in a leather store. For two years he was with the
Joseph Speidel Wholesale Grocery Company, and for fourteen years was with
Waterhouse Brothers, wholesale grocers. In this establishment he reached the
position of head bookkeeper and salesman.

It was in September, 1902, that Mr. Hartmann went with the Wheeling Ice and
Storage Company, beginning as clerk, was promoted to assistant manager in 1913
and since October, 1921, has been manager. He is also a stockholder and director
of the company. The great prestige and business this company enjoys is fully
credited to the hard work and splendid management of Mr. Hartmann. The plant
and offices are at 2224 Water Street.

Mr. Hartmann is a republican, and has long been prominent in Zion Lutheran
Church. He has served as corresponding secretary, has on several occasions been
a member of the Church Council and has been president, secretary, treasurer and
trustee of the various church benevolent organizations. He is a member of Ohio
Valley Lodge No. 131, Knights of Pythias, Wheeling Lodge No. 28, Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and LaBelle Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen.
He owns a modern home at 15 Kentucky Street in Wheeling. He married in that
city June 30, 1897, Miss Matilda Schenck, daughter of Frederick L. and Catherine
(Baumberger) Schenck. Both her parents died in Wheeling, her father having been
for a number of years an employe of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Mr. and
Mrs. Hartmann have one child, Kathryn born March 1, 1899. She is a graduate of
the Wheeling High School and is now bookkeeper for the Wheeling Ice and Storage
Company.

Biographical Sketches of Members of Congress, Members of the Legislature,
Officers of the State Governement and judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals,
West Virigina, 1917

Source:
West Virginia Legislative Hand Book and Manual and Official Register, 1917,
Compiled and Edited by John T. Harris, Clerk of the Senate,
The Tribune Printing Co., Charleston, West Va.
pgs. 719 – 770

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

743

OTTO, WILLIAM THOMAS. (Republican.) Ad-
dress: Wheeling, West Va. One of the representatives
from the county of Ohio. Born in that city August 28,
1850; educated in the public schools; from 1878 to 1913-
a period of thirty-five years-was Superintendent of the
North Wheeling Glass Works; has now retired; was a
member of the Board of Public Works of Wheeling;
served twenty years in the first branch of the city council
and two years in the second branch; was elected to the
House of Delegates in 1914; re-elected in 1916; com-
mittee assignments in 1917: Counties, Districts and
Municipal Corporations, Medicine and Sanitation, Arts,
Science and General Improvements.

OHIO COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA
******************************************************************
Submitted to the West Virginia Biographies Project by:
Tina Hursh
frog158@juno.com
September 29, 2000
******************************************************************

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.
Chicago and New York, Volume 111
Pg. 364 & 365

Carl H. Eberts has been actively associated with the Bank of Warwood from the
time of its inception, and is now its efficient and popular cashier. Special
interests at Warwood, a village that is now a part of the City of Wheeling, by
reason of the fact the old family homestead farm was partially included in the
site of the town at the time it was founded. He was born on the site of
Warwood, the present title of which was given when around the plant of the
Warood Tool Company, established at this point, a village began to develop, the
same later being made an integral part of wheeling. Here Mr. Eberts was born
December 18, 1888, a son of George S. and Mary Weiske Eberts, the latter of
whom likewise was born in the Warwood locality, her father, Herman Weiske,
having here died when she was a child.

George S. Ebers was a child when his parents, Jacob and Caroline Eberts,
established their home on a farm a part of which is now included in Warwood, ad
on this old homestead the parents passed the remainder of their lives, the farm
eventually passing into the possession of George S., who later became prominent
in securing the right of way for the street railway through this section and
who finally sold the farm to the Loveland investment Company, in which he
became a director. In this connection he aided in the platting of his former
farm (seventy-two acres) into town lots, and he became one of the vital and
progressive men of the new town. He was one of the organizers and
incorporators of the Bank of Warwood in 1911, and continued a director of the
same until his death, July 20, 1921. Mr. Eberts was a stockholder in Wheeling
Wall Plaster Company and had active management of its manufacturing plant at
Warwood. In 1918 he became manager of the Glenova Coal Company, with which he
continued this connected until his death. Under his direction the mines of the
company were opened, and the enterprise has been one of importance in connection
with the industrial advancement of Warwood. The Glenova Coal Company has sixty
acres of coal land, and the output of the mines is sold to local factories and
homes. The property and business are controlled by the family of Mr. Eberts.
Mr. Eberts served twenty-five years as a member of the School Board of his
district, which comprised all of the Richland District and included Warwood,
where was established the district high school. He was a stanch democrat, and
was an earnest communicant of the Lutheran Church, as is also his widow. The
family own also the mining enterprises conducted under the title of the
Chesapeake Coal Company, at Bellaire, Ohio, and the Valley Grove Coal Company,
likewise at Bellaire, of which Carl H., of this sketch, is vice-resident and
treasurer, T.H. Johnson, of Bellaire, being the president. Three children
survive the honored father, and of the number Carl H. is the eldest; George J.
is secretary of the John S. Naylor Company of Wheeling; and Harry W. is
secretary of the Chesapeake Coal Company at Bellaire, Ohio.

Carl H. Eberts gained his early education in the public schools, and in his
eighteenth year he took a minor position in the Quarter Saving Bank at
Wheeling, in which he served two months without compensation and in which he
eventually won promotion to the position of teller. In 1911 he became the
active promoter of the Bank of Warwood, which was incoproated with a capital of
$25,000, all stock being held by citizens of the immediate community. The bank
opened its doors May 1, 1911, and Mr. Eberts has been its cashier from the
beginning, the shile his careful and progressive executive policies and his
personal polularity have inured greatly to the success of the enterprise. The
present bank building, of modern architecture and equipment was completed and
occupied in January, 1914, a two-story brick structure, with the banking
offices, and with a second room that is used for mercantile purposes. W.E.
Helfenbine, the first president of the bank, was succeeded in 1913 by the
present incumbent, F. J. Kenamond, and J.H. McDonald is the vice president.
The bank has a safe-deposit department and is an institution that plays a large
part in the general business life of the community. It now has surplus and
undivided profits of $25,000, it has paid regular six per cent dividends, and
its deposits average about $500,000.

Mr. Eberts takes vital interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home
community, and he and his wife are zealous and influential communicants of the
Lutheran Church at Warwood, he being chairman of its Board of Trustees and vice
president of its council. He was a delegate to the Synodical Conference of the
church at Fairmont, in 1921, and in the preceding year was a delegate to the
United Lutheran Conference held in the City of Washington, D.C. He has
completed the circle of both York and Scottish Rite Masonry, in the latter of
which he has received the thirty-second degree, besides being affiliated with
the Mystic Shrine and the Order of the Eastern Star, of which latter his wife
likewise is a member. Mrs. Eberts, whose maiden name was Emma Johnson, is a
daughter of T.H. Johnson, Bellaire, Ohio, who has been actively engaged in coal
operations for more than forty years. Mr. and Mrs. Eberts have one son, Herman
Carl.

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 259
Ohio County

HOWARD C. LANE, of Wheeling, is a native of that city,
is a dentist by profession and had an overseas experience
during the World war.

He was born at Wheeling September 4, 1889. His father,
John Lane, was born in Marion County, West Virginia,
in 1856, and was about ten years of age when he accom-
panied his widowed mother to Ohio County, West Virginia.
He was reared, educated and married there, and for a
number of years was employed in one of the nail factories
at Wheeling, served four years as jailer for Ohio County,
and since 1896 has been in the service of ‘the National
Exchange Bank, being custodian of its vaults. He is a
democrat and a member of the Catholic Church. John
Lane married Margaret Flynn. who was born in Marshall
County, West Virginia, in 1858, Martin, the oldest of their
children, is in the train service of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road and lives at Wheeling. Howard C. is the second in
age. Miss Marie is a teacher in the Webster School at
Wheeling.

Howard C. Lane acquired a public and parochial school
education at Wheeling, finished his high school course at
the age of seventeen and subsequently learned the profes-
sion of prosthetic dentistry.

Mr. Lane is unmarried. He is an independent in polities
and for a number of years was a member of the Wheeling
Board of Education. He is a Catholic and is affiliated with
Carroll Council No. 504, Knights of Columbus, and Wheel-
ing Lodge No. 28, Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks. On June 24, 1918, he entered the United States
service, having one month of duty at Camp Meade. Mary-
land, and was sent overseas with Evacuation Hospital No.
16. He was stationed at Revigny, France, and was with
the Army of Occupation in Germany at Coblenz until June,
1919. when he returned home with Evacuation Hospital
No. 16 and was mustered out at Camp Dix, New Jersey,
in August. 1919. He at once returned to Wheeling and
resumed his professional work.